Kingdom of Ends
by QueenBtchandTangle
Summary: Roxas graduated early from high school, determined to become a radiologist because of his mother's cancer. Axel is just attempting to get by. Both meet in college and discover they both need each other to succeed. AkuRoku, Lemons and Limes about, read at your own risk. Slash.
1. Axel the Annoying

Disclaimer: We only own chocolate

(AN: This is a collab between MissTangle and QueenBtchoftheUniverse. There will be citrus. Don't read if you're under 18. Amen. )

Axel toyed with the end of his pen, bored completely shitless in his stats class. The professor just droned on and on; it seemed as though the lecture was taking two weeks instead of two hours. The class was a requirement for his AA, otherwise he wouldn't have bothered to spend one hundred fucking bucks on the textbook. Math hurt his brain. There was a bonus, though. That bonus came in a small, angsty blond package. He didn't even know his name, but he sure was fun to mess with.

He flipped his pen just right so that it landed next to the feet of the blond boy. Bending forward, he said, "Excuse me, but can you get that for me?"

Said blonde boy, whose name happened to be Roxas (not that he would ever willingly divulge his name to this asshole) scowled. However, his mother had raised him right, and he knew that morally it was wrong to keep anyone from learning math. Especially when the one in question happened to have some sort of learning impediment when it came to the subject. Roxas was pretty sure that the firecrotch was, like, ten years older.

Ok, maybe not that old. But still.

He quietly reached down, and handed the irritating man the pen.

"Thanks hon." He accepted his pen with a wink.

Roxas' cheeks flamed red, and he pointedly turned away to take more notes.

Ten minutes of doodling and failed-concentration later, he threw his pen away from him in frustration. He leaned forward once more, and whispered, "Hey, did you get what he said about quantum equations?"

Sighing, not only because of his lapsed concentration, but also at the older man's stupidity, he turned. "If you read page 153 there's a diagram. It was assigned reading from two days ago." He whispered, as the teacher was rambling about some sort of failed experiment he had done in college. The teacher clearly lived vicariously through the details of the student's lives, and the students jokingly called him Dr. Mansex because of his interest in the more personal aspects of college life. Something Roxas found utterly disgusting. Dr. Xemnas did not deserve the ridicule.

"Right, thanks," Axel mumbled and sat back. He would need to re-think his plan of attack. People usually weren't so cold towards him; they found his natural good humor to be refreshing. He needed a cigarette, anyway. Pushing back his chair, he got up without so much as a snide comment from the professor. Once outside, he lit up and sucked in as much smoke as his lungs could hold, exhaling slowly. It would have to be a fast break, since he couldn't afford to miss much of the glass. He grumbled and brushed back his long, flamboyantly red hair. In doing so, he caught a glimpse of yellow from the corner of his vision. Of course!

"Hey cutie, I brought you some flowers. You know, for helping me out."

Roxas turned slowly, feeling a slow dread creeping down his spine. "I'm allergic to flowers." When did this guy get so close? "You don't even know my name...?"

"Well if we knew each other, this wouldn't have happened." He smiled at him and stuffed the flowers into his backpack. "How about this: if you tell me your name, I'll quit bugging you."

"Roxas," his mouth moved without his permission. It was like he had tourrettes. Except the really polite kind. At least this guy would leave him alone.

"Roxas," he repeated, trying the name out. "I'm Axel." Sitting back in his seat, he said, "Got it memorized?" He winked.

Roxas scowled. Axel... Somehow it fit the tattooed man with the insane hair. Before he even thought about it it just kind of... "Is your hair even natural?"

"What do you think?" Axel couldn't stop grinning. This kid was just too cute.

Roxas found his eyes wandering down to Axel's jeans, his cheeks again painted almost as bright as Axel's hair. "Nevermind." He shoved his hand in the pockets of his white, loose jeans, and looked to the math building, it's doors seeming like a reprieve from this mistake of a social encounter.

"Hey." He waited until Roxas looked back up at him. "If you'll come with me to get some coffee, I'll tell you."

Roxas swallowed the words /I'd rather you show me/ before he truly made a fool of himself, but he couldn't stop the "Ok" that came out instead. Suddenly, he felt his dick vibrate. That goddamn phone had never buzzed at a better/worse time. "Uhh, I have to take a call." He pulled out his phone and turned.

"Sure, I'll see you around then." Axel tightened his hand around the strap of his backpack and turned to go to the cafeteria. Well, it was progress. Now that he knew the kid's name, they were finally getting somewhere! He passed by all the half-baked wanna-be adults and found his favorite spot on campus. The atmosphere inside the cafeteria was just raucous enough to be background noise, but not too much to where he couldn't hear himself think. He sat on a stool at the bar by the bay windows, and pulled out his copy of The Communist Manifesto.

Roxas felt his heart leave with his next breath. His mom's condition was as he expected, but he still felt sorrow as he walked to his next class. He had graduated a year early, and gone straight to college. His dream was to be a radiologist, but he had overestimated his capacity for schoolwork. His school had left him with few scholorships, and he was taking four classes. The loans alone were going to kill him when he graduated, and his father just wanted him to come home. Roxas needed a solution to his money problems. His father could solve them, but after a fight Roxas was too stubborn to just let it go.

oxas shook his head and walked himself to his next class, finding an involuntary grin on his face when he thought of a certain redhead.

Axel closed his book and checked his phone. 11:58. Shit, he had to get to class! Stowing his stuff, he glanced up and grinned in delight. There was Roxas, hurrying to his next class it looked like. And the fucker looked happy about it for some reason. Goddamn, he'd have to fix that. He left the cafeteria and half-jogged to keep up and waylay the blond. "Hey Roxas, where you heading?"

Roxas fixed his scowl back, "None of your business." He fixed his gaze ahead, determined to ignore this guy.

Undeterred, Axel continued to talk. "Well I've got biology next. And you promised that we'd go get coffee, so I won't quit harping at you until that happens. That's a lovely jacket, by the way. I've never been able to keep a white piece of clothing clean for long."

Roxas silently cursed himself. Why was he a nice guy? And why was Axel so interested? As far as he knew no one here even knew he was gay yet.

Finally, he came up to his building, the massive sign hanging over him like a curse: Science. Roxas had never been good at it, and yet he felt it was his duty to do it.

"Have you got a class here too or are you stalking me?" Axel winked at him. As fun as it was to torture the poor kid, there was something about his brooding silence that got to him. What was going on in that spikey blond head of his? And his moods were so mercurial, but they evidenced themselves plainly upon his face. It was adorable.

Roxas' grimaced, figuring his dirge march into the building would be answer enough.

"Well whaddaya know. You don't happen to have Leonheart next, do you?" Axel strode forward so he could get the door for Roxas, holding it long enough for a couple of girls to thank him and giggle when he flashed them a smile.

Roxas smiled, "No, Merlin."

"Goddamn! Finally, a smile! Even if it's at the fact we're not in the same class, I'll take it. Alright, well, this is where my class is," Axel said, stopping by a door that still had a few late stragglers slinking in. Good, he wouldn't stand out too much. "See you later, cutie."

The grimace came back. Roxas really wished Axel wouldn't make such public statements. He gave a halfhearted wave, resolving to find an excuse to leave five minutes early. Even though he was a good kid. He spent the rest of his class with Merlin in a glazed stupor, ears feeling sick, and wishing for a break. But he stayed the whole two hours. His only two hour class and it had to be Anatomy/Positioning.

As soon as Axel walked through the door he knew he should have skipped. He had forgotten that they were doing a lab that day, dissecting piglets and labeling their parts. Already the smell of the formaldehyde gave him a headache, and he had to breathe through his mouth to keep from passing out. He clenched his fists and threw his shoulders back, resolving to stick it out and not pass out like a fuckin' pussy. The professor had already gone through the instructions, leaving the pairs of students to their own devices. His partner Larxene was already wrist deep in pig guts. His stomach shuddered and threatened to abdicate his body. Larxene raised her pierced brow at him, but he just pushed his feelings of sickness aside and smiled at her. She'd do their lab and then some as long as he led her on just right. Besides, she enjoyed all the gory shit. That was only reason she was taking the class, he was pretty sure. He just put in his headphones and closed his eyes, breathing deeply until the period was over.

By the end of his class Roxas felt so bored he could have cried. He gathered his notes, muttered a brief goodbye to his sort-of friend Xion. She was very pretty. If he swung that way he supposed he would have found her sexy even. However, he would have been sorely disappointed, because Xion was a lesbian. A lesbian who loved to make straight men uncomfortable, and occasionally lead them on. He was sure she didn't mean to do it and loved her all the more for it. They had gone a couple times to the mall, where she had awkwardly wingmanned for him. The only result of these outings had been terrified looks from straight men she had led to him. Sadly, Xion's gaydar was way off. That didn't stop her from trying.

Roxas thought he'd almost gotten away with minimal socializing, but no such luck. Xion skipped to follow him and blew in his ear teasingly. Despite himself, he cracked a grin. "Back off slut."

Xion wrinkled her nose, "Make me, pussy." She stuck out her tongue at him and grabbed his hand, half swinging, half dragging him along. "Sooo I heard there was this new club opening, shorty, and I was thinking we might find some luck there with our soulmates." Roxas could almost see the hearts in her eyes.

Roxas ran his hand through his already touseled hair. "Xion are you sure-"

"'Kay great, see you there I'll facebook you~" Xion let go and turned to go the opposite direction.

Roxas spun, "Xion..." But she had already turned the corner. He let a puff of air move the one spike of hair in front of his eyes.

"Hey, watch it, asshole! I'm walking here!" Axel flipped off the car that veered around him, causing other cars to honk at the stunt. Assholes. Everyone of them. Nobody stopped for pedestrians anymore. He crossed the street quickly and kept his eyes down once he was on the sidewalk. After walking the six blocks from his apartment to campus every day, the route became blurred and failed to hold his attention. Before he knew it, he was turning his key in the lock and shouldering the door up (the thing stuck like a motherfucker). Shutting it behind him, he leaned back and sighed. Six hundred a month for the shitty studio, but it was his. He gladly paid the extra for the benefit of having the entire thing to himself. Going to the fridge, he took out a beer and went to go boot up his computer. He needed to get to work on the paper that was due the next day.

Roxas walked to his car, resigning himself to the fact that when he got home he would watch Breaking Bad. Sure, the show had ended a year ago, but it just so happened that he got netflix thanks to his roommate. He slid quietly in the door. Luxord worked nights at a casino, and could get supremely upset if woken. Roxas walked to their little kitchenette and pulled out the little bottle of what he presumed were sugar pills since the effectiveness had waned with each passing month. Roxas actually did have Tourettes. Popping and dry swallowing, he grimaced at the taste.


	2. Caffeine to the Face

(AN So I (Tangle) had a round of sickness, and QueenBtch is doing her thing. I live with my bf, she goes to college. This is something we made. Yeah. Soooo)

A few hours later Roxas was drooling on his textbooks, fast asleep, dead to all but the distant sound of a blender. Roxas groaned, a sound that seemed to rip from his chest, deep and rough. His eyes felt scratchy and someone was prodding him with what felt like a stick.

"Ah, it stirs…"

Roxas jolted, "What the-" He turned around, "Xion! What the hell? How did you get in?"

Xion made a cute face, "Luxord let me in~"

Axel groaned and rubbed his head as he walked to school the next day. He was almost ready to kiss a pistol in order to get out of going to a nine am. stats class. He paid as much attention to his grade as he did to that nagging voice in his head that told him three in the morning was not a suitable bed time. Maybe blondie would be able to tutor him. The thought made him smile. If anything, the kid made waking up so early at least a little bit more tolerable. And maybe he'd find out what had him so uptight all the time. Axel was sure that he wasn't the root cause of anything. He hardly knew Roxas, and it wasn't like he was one of those people that would just run their mouths off in class and manage to sound like more of a fag than him, even.

No, definitely not.

Roxas drove Xion to school, grumbling the whole way under his breath, feeling like he wasn't prepared at all for his stats class. THen again, the last time he was unprepared he got a B overall on the exam, so maybe he wasn't as bad off... He pulled into the parking lot, feeling the dull ache in his neck and feeling like he still had the imprint of his book in his face. Xion, as always, was just dandy, and talked about how her sister (she was from a set of triplets) was re-dying her hair red, and how there was this cute girl in her English 302 class that was totally a ten, and how she thought Italy would be fun.

Roxas was very happy to get out of the car.

He pulled his feet across the pavement, reluctant to go to class just yet. There was a certain red headed nightmare waiting for him, he was sure. And as it turned out, he was correct. He flopped down in his seat.

"Oh, someone's grumpy this morning. Then again, I have this feeling that you're grumpy every morning." Axel got out his notebook and pen, then started scribbling.

Roxas gave Axel a baleful glare.

Axel tore out the entire page he had been writing on and handed it to him. "My contact info. You know, so we can go get coffee."

Roxas facedesked, snatching the paper.

Axel laughed. "You don't say much, do you? That's okay, I'll just do all the talking until you decide to grace the world with your ethereal voice. Well since I just gave you my number, I'm going to need a new one now. Can I have yours?"

Blushing, Roxas meant to say his number, but instead said, "You smell good." He cringed. "That didn't come out right... I mean- You do smell good but what I meant to say is..."

Roxas pulled out a pen and reached for Axel's hand, so done with trying to communicate like a human. However, his alternative backfired finding the hand incredibly warm in a way that made his stomach ache. He scrawled his number in his odd way (Crossed between his left ring and middle finger), his face pinching.

"Now we're getting somewhere." Axel kept his hand in Roxas' for a moment longer, enjoying the connection, then dropped it. He tried to temper his voice and make it softer, coaxing, like how he'd talk a scared kid. They often shied away from the sight of his tatted up, obnoxiously bright self. Honest to God, he really did try. "You got any other words stored up in there?"

Roxas felt strange. On one hand he wanted Axel. On the other... Well, Roxas hated people. Without a solution he shrugged and started working on his studies.

Axel snorted. "Fuck, kid. You're even more of a zombie than I am. You could definitely use some caffeine to wire you right up. I bet nothing in the world could get you to shut up when you're strung out just right."

"I guess you'll find out," Roxas grumbled.

Roxas returned to his studies, determined to be ready for that big test. He almost didn't notice when the class finished.

Axel waited until Roxas had his bag all packed, then grabbed his hand before the grouchy blond could get away. He was set on coffee. They were going to go get it. If the world chose just that exact moment to go into apocalypse mode, he'd fight every last fucking brain-eater just to go get a cup of mud. Yes, he would. "There's this great little corner shop up here, and they don't sell any of that Starbucks shit. It's great, I swear."

Roxas blushed. What would people think? He ran his free hand through his hair, ducking his head in a nod. His hand burned. Was Axel just abnormally warm? Was it his personality? Even being around Axel made Roxas feel warm inside

Roxas had never felt anything like it.

Together, they walked their way to the coffee shop in that slow way that one might find themselves enacting if tasked to walk to their grandfather's funeral.

They made it up to the counter and Axel ordered his plain coffee and took out his wallet."What do you want, Roxas?"

Roxas crossed his arms. "Caramel macchiato." He breathed in the bitter air.

"Right." Axel pulled a face but turned to the barista and ordered it anyway. He paid for the drinks and took the offered cup, filling it in from a nearby canister. "I don't understand how people can drink all of that sugarized, foo-foo crap. I don't even like creamer; it just doesn't taste right." He got Roxas' drink once his order was called, and went to sit at a table by the window. Settling into his seat, he handed the macchiato over and swung a foot up onto the table. "So," he said. "You still want to know about my hair?"

Roxas sipped at the coffee. He didn't drink it often (it often aggravated his Tourettes, making his physical tweaks more prominent) but when he did he always made sure he looked sophisticated. So he crossed his legs, already dreading the way his left arm would redden from his scratching later. "Sure."

Axel grinned and leaned forward, bringing his foot down. "It's both natural and dyed, see?" He separated a lock of long hair and tugged, pulling it taut. "This is my natural color," he said and pointed to the umber base of the strand. "And this is the dye." Sliding his fingers down the gradated pieces to showcase them, he then flipped the piece back once he proved his point.

Roxas felt his lips curve, "I used to hate redheads. I always felt like they were... I dunno, picking their noses and leaving what they found under desks." That was charming. Not. Roxas' hands itched. Would Axel's hair be soft, or coarse from the hair die. He sipped from his coffee, determined not to break the facade. "Do you work?"

"I haven't given you any reason to doubt that I do that. Check under your desk some time." Axel winked and practically inhaled his drink. It felt just as good as breathing. "I've got part time at the library. Reshelving, constantly. Those damn books never like to stay where. they're put. How about you?"

Axel raised his brow expectantly. "Are you afraid if you tell me where you work, then I'm going to stalk you? Good God, how could I have sunk so low?" He brought his hand to his face in mock-horror. "Swear on my mother's grave, I will only visit there for non-stalking purposes."

"Full time student, unfortunately." Roxas' eyes glinted ruefully. "No one wants a seventeen year old student with no degree or work experience around here." He had tried almost everywhere he could online. No one was hiring fall anyway. It was just winter.

Axel's ever-present smile faltered. "Shit, kid. You're only seventeen? Fuck.." He tore at the edges of his paper cup, hating that it was empty already. "Shouldn't you still be in high school?"

Roxas easy posture faltered, conceding to his usual slouch, and his arms felt hot, but in the way that if you let a bug bite you. "I garduated a year early for my mom." He uncrossed his knees, and chugged his drink.

He slammed it on the table and smiled brightly, but his eyes stayed pinched.

"Well Jesus, you must be some sorta whiz, then." He rubbed his face in frustration and muttered, "Fuck, only seventeen. Your parents aren't going to approve of me, that's for sure." He tried to re-attach his natural optimism. Somehow, it felt a little flakey.

Roxas felt the awkwardness. "Not in science." He bit his lip in afailed attempt to stop the natural smile emerging. He crossed his legs and took another sip of his coffee.

Axel grinned back and toyed with a bracelet on his left wrist. "Well, Roxas. You must be some sort of special."

Roxas almost laughed. Then he remembered that this guy was some sort of creep or something. So he finished his coffee, and stood, unaware of the hand scratching at his arm. "Well, it was weird having coffee with you." Nice, Roxas, nice. Go ahead and make it worse. This was why Roxas was single. Why he couldn't have nice things. "Umm... Bye." He waved awkwardly, ducked his head, and walked out.

Axel rolled his eyes and got up to follow the blond. "Did you forget that we both have our next class in the same building? You know, maybe it's the back-the-fuck-up-or-I'm-going-to-strangle-you vibe that you're giving off, or you're just a shy little kid. But I'm willing to bet that you don't have a lot of friends. Either way, we can still be friends, if you want to."

Roxas slowed, and slowly turned, a cautious almost hopeful sheen to his eyes. "You really mean that?" The closest friend he had ever had was Xion, and he's known her since freshman year. Of highschool. "What would being friends entail?"

Axel pretended to take the magnitude of his answer into thought, and curled a strand of hair around his finger as he walked. "Let's see, the standard definition for friends is people who do crazy shit with each other, and then bail the other out of jail when their fun goes awry. That sound about right to you?"

Roxas grinned, still not convinced that Axel wasn't a total creep. "Ok, but first you need to get a head check from Xion." This would be fun.

"A head check. You're questioning my sanity?" Axel smiled, loving the enthusiasm that Roxas was showing, even if it was at his expense. "Well fuck, I never was good at tests. If I fail, do we still get to be friends?"

Roxas' nose wrinkled, "Well, if I told you it wouldn't be any fun."

He paused at the doors to science.

Axel halted, then strode forward to open the door with a low flourish. "Well at the very least, I know that I can charm the pants off of this Xion person."

Roxas' smiled a smile that finally reached his eyes, "I don't know about that. She's pretty tough to charm, even for me. I remember when I met her she told me she couldn't be my friend unless I remained her eternal slave until the end of time."

"Well, Roxas." Axel grinned and tried to look as non-condescending as possible. "I hate to break it to ya, but you're not exactly the most approachable person."

Roxas' smile turned to a scowl, "You wanna mess with me, punk?" He held it for like, two seconds. Before it dissolved into a fit of giggles. He strongly doubted he would be able to focus in science. What a winning day of life for him.

For behold, the caffeine had kicked in.

"Oh...shit. I've created a monster." Axel looked towards the classroom and then back at the giggling Roxas. He debated on whether he should skip class and try to sober him up somehow, or tape this shit and put it up on Youtube.

Grinning brightly, Roxas made a most stupendous pronouncement. "I," he said grandly, "am going to fail science."

Axel smirked. "Join the club. You want to just bail?"

Roxas pretended to consider, "Hmm... Go to anatomy and positioning, or go and possibly have fun with a creep who- Um, guy you just met." He looked at the sun glinting off Axel's hair. "What's life without a little living?"

"Well alright then!" Axel did his best to give an impersonation of a creeper face. It must have worked, because Roxas flinched back just a little.

(AN Review or Roxas gets it [just kidding but we'd like feedback.] What did you like, what did you hate?)


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